1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to packaging and particularly to the formation of strips of web-shaped material which, when integrated into a hinged-lid package comprised of paper or the like, facilitate the use of the package. More specifically, the present invention is directed to apparatus for producing shoulder strips, the strips being fed to a packaging station for integration into cigarette packages of the folded box type, and especially to devices for forming such strips in substantially continuous fashion by accomplishing change-over between supply reels for the material from which the strips are cut. Accordingly, the general objects of the present invention are to provide novel and improved methods and apparatus of such character.
2. Description of the Prior Art
While not limited thereto in its utility, the present invention is particularly well-suited for use in the packaging of cigarettes and particularly in the formation of hinged-lid type packages. Such hinged-lid packages are well known in the art and are formed by folding a package blank around a block of cigarettes which has been wrapped in an inner paper. Such packages are provided with a strip of web-shaped material, known in the art as a "shoulder strip" which is adhesively bonded to the blank from which the outer package is formed. In the finished package, the shoulder strip is arranged on the inside of the outer wrapper or box and delimits a removal zone at the front end and two adjacent sides of the package. The shoulder strip must be folded during the package formation process and, in the folded state, has a frontal region with projections, defined by incisions or creases, which assist in the holding of the hinged lid of the package in the closed position.
Apparatus for cutting shoulder strips of the type briefly described above continuously from a web of packaging material, the thus cut strips subsequently being inserted into pockets of a conveying device for the purpose of prefolding, may be seen from published Federal Republic of Germany patent application Serial No. 2,447,917.
Apparatus for use in the formation of hinged-lid boxes which include a movable flap, such apparatus including an ejector mechanism for defective package blanks, may be seen from published Federal Republic of Germany patent application Serial No. 2,137,937.
There is a need in the art, not satisfied by the above-described and other prior art methods and apparatus, for producing shoulder strips or the like in an uncomplicated manner and in a manner which facilitates the change-over from a first to a second supply of the web material from which such strips are cut.